The invention relates generally to videoconferencing systems, and more particularly, to a portable, easy to set up, videoconferencing system.
Videoconferencing systems operating over the public telephone network have existed commercially for about ten years. The systems can be divided into two primary classes, a group or conference room class of system and a desktop class of system. Traditionally, the group systems are relatively large, freestanding systems shipped in several crates and including, typically separately, an electronics unit containing the coder and decoder (codec), a camera for placement in the conference room, a microphone for placement in the room, and a remote control, either wired or wireless (infrared) for controlling the system.
Desktop systems are typically shipped to the customer in one or more packages and contain one or two electronics boards to install in a personal computer, software to load into the computer, a microphone with a cable to attach to the computer, and a camera with a cable to attach to the computer. Thus, desktop systems operate in conjunction with a personal computer and while they can be moved, are not what is commonly called portable, such as a portable laptop.